These Are The Days

Today was a proud parent day. Pardon my bragging and thank you in advance for indulging my parental ego, but these are the days that make cleaning vomit from a car seat, poop from the carpet and enduring what sometimes feels like hours of whining and complaining ALL worth it.

The day started out with some anxiety. After all, it was Garrett's second "first" day of school, having switched classes and teachers. I knew he'd do great, but parted this morning with a hope and a prayer that he would have fun, behave and make new friends.

After dropping the boys at school, I was off to take Ella to the doctor for her hemoglobin recheck. Her levels were low at her last visit and today required a blood draw. Not the quick toe prick kind...the hold her down, poke her arm and keep her still kind. I did find some relief in learning that Ella's propensity to gnaw on odd and inedible things (like the window sill and crib railing) were not totally uncommon symptoms of iron deficiency. Who knew? As we sat waiting for her name to be called in the lab, she managed to charm a somewhat grumpy old man who, as he left, handed me $1 and insisted I take her for ice cream afterward. The draw itself was much better than I expected as I was quickly reminded how Ella having no prior experience with this unpleasant process proved to be a HUGE advantage in this case. She did great. No shrills, no cries, not even a tear. Okay, maybe a bit of a scowl, but that's Ella.

Both Blake and Garrett had a great day at school. Garrett really liked his new class, new teacher and new friends. And Blake came home from school today with FIVE green tickets given to him by his teacher for good behavior. That is a personal record for him and something any parent would be extremely proud of. What's even more remarkable is that he came home from school feeling so excited about it that he asked to do his homework right away (even before getting in any play time). Once he finished that, he asked to do more workbook pages to earn "happy faces" at home! I can't think of too many things as a parent that make you more proud and happy for your child than to see them learning something new and succeeding at what they put their mind to. I just hope his excitement lasts...

Having seen the extra attention Blake got from working hard in school, Garrett decided he wanted to earn his share of happy faces at home by doing workbook pages too. He completed 10 pages with minimal effort. And earned himself almost enough happy faces to catch up to Blake...until Blake took the lead picking up the yard. Then Garrett decided he would make (my) dinner. Who says sibling rivalry is a bad thing? He made me and Blake a place mat with "activities" like tic tac toe and a maze to entertain us. And while the dinner idea didn't quite come to fruition (although I did get raisins and crackers), it's the thought that matters most.

Like I said, these are the days...